At the wholly surreal NBA game on Monday night, LeBron James donned an "I can't breathe" shirt for warmups in Brooklyn. He then proceeded to score 18 points and dish out seven assists in front of two royal families — including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

After the game, James posed for the photo above with the royal couple — and halfheartedly draped an arm around Kate Middleton's shoulders. Some wondered if he'd broken some sort of codified behavioral restrictions when in the presence of royalty.

King James, they said, should not have touched England's future queen.

A so-called "etiquette expert" told the UK's Daily Mail it was a case of "an American being too touchy feely." Other British media outlets similarly looked down their figurative noses at James' effort to make the duchess feel at home.

There's even, apparently, an entire web page dedicated to how one should and should not greet fellow human beings who happen to be part of the Royal Family. On top of all that, Piers Morgan hated on James for a perceived lack of decorum.

"You do not touch a member of the royal family unless they ask you to touch them or extend their hand," he said. "LeBron James, you may call yourself King James — you are not a real king."

But wait! Cleveland.com on Friday got comment from Buckingham Palace about the international incident — and it turns out there's no such problem.

"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge very much enjoyed their time in the U.S., including attending the NBA game and meeting LeBron," senior communications officer Laura King told the news site via email.

"When members of the Royal Family meet people they want them to feel as comfortable as possible," King said. "There is no such thing as Royal protocol."

So there you have it — the Cleveland Cavaliers star has been exonerated by Buckingham Palace itself.

James, for his part, hasn't commented on the matter — possibly because it was a pseudo-controversy to begin with.

Meanwhile, Kate and William's son, better known by his royalty name of Prince George, seems to be enjoying his new Cavaliers jersey, according to this photo James posted to Instagram. (UPDATE: the photo is doctored, but James really did give the tyke a jersey.)